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Norse Myths before/after I've gone from reading Burroughs and Revelations to reading Norse mythology. (or rather, an annotated translation of Norse mythology, its not as if I read runic script, unfortunately. Don't have the time to learn dead languages) Its an interesting transition. Of note is the continuing mysogeny throughout most Western religions. I would include Eastern Religion and say ALL religion, but I haven't done any competent research in awhile of the Eastern mythos. However, if conditions in India and China are to be believed, they fare no better orientally. I don't think I get the point of Norse mythology and its testosterone ridden morals. As an example, I look at a myth such as The Death of Balder, and I think the moral is "don't tempt fate." (to say nothing of the place of compassion and mercy in a stable world, this is really what I think) Balder has dreams about dying. Bad dreams. So Frigg (huh-huh), asks everything in the world to swear not to hurt Balder, the most beloved of the gods. Okay. Everybody agrees. In short order, to amuse themselves, the gods line up and start throwing things at Balder, because nothing will hurt him. Prime case in point: do not tempt fate. And, of course, there is a fly in the fudge, as Loki searches out the one thing that can hurt Balder, and he is killed when they throw it at Balder. You think that someone would have had the foresight to admonish these creatures with a wagging finger to "not tempt fate." I spend a lot of time not tempting fate. It all goes back to seventh grade, when I found a sweater I rather liked. It was black, and I thought it would look good at a funeral. I idly wondered if I would soon attend a funeral that I could wear it. A few weeks later, my locker partner's father died. I felt awful. I tried to be nice to the kid, but looking back, he was a mullet. So there was no use to it. Anyway, the other example of weird mysogeny was this myth of Freya. Four dwarves make The Most Beautiful Necklace. Freya wants it. Their price: fuck us all. Each of them got Freya for one night, and she got the necklace. She fucked four midgets to get a necklace. Of course, Odin was pissed. Who wouldn't be, when the woman you love fucks dwarves for shiny objects? Loki steals the necklace for Odin, who withholds it until she causes a war on midgard. I suppose if there is a moral, it is this: give your wife lots of good presents. If you don't she will go gang-bang midgets for gifts, because women are such untrustworthy creatures. What I really hope will happen in my lifetime, is some sort of woman revolution. Of any demographic group, they have the most about which to complain. Especially about these Norse myths. Very unflattering, to say the least. Sometimes I read history, philosophy of thought, cultural geography, myths, religion, and I just want to resign from the human race. As a group, we're just so dumb.
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